Identifying the Best Political Organization System

Abstract
There are very many political regimes in the world, but the best one has not been
identified until now. Our research aims to determine which political organization system
leads to the highest level of satisfaction with how the country is run, among the population of
its state, while also making sure that the selected political regime is characterized by equity
when it comes to political representation and potential for political participation. The result
of our study points to the United States of America as having the best political regime in the
world. The mentioned country elects its president through fair elections, which means that it
offers the public the chance to make its voice heard, while also properly representing all of
its major constituent groups, in politics. The result of our research represents a major
addition to the existing literature on the topic of political regimes, and our article as a whole
represents a very informative, high value read.

Introduction
Adam Smith1 considered jurisprudence the study of the principles that support law
formation if moral impartiality is respected. His interpretation is an alternative to the Greek
and medieval political ideal and entails the replacement of the philosopher-king with a
scientifically crafted system of laws that is able to enforce itself within societies. His idea
eliminates the need for rulers to offer gifts to themselves for being in charge, and expresses
the concept that virtue in leadership is a form of rational self-interest, in the context in which
what is good for the society is good for the individual as well. In his opinion, laws should be
derived from what an impartial leader believes to be good things to enforce. His
interpretation is idealistic and scientific in nature, just as the idea of creating perfect
democracies in which people are treated equally is. Both of these ideas are based on the
principle of making public and individual interest the primary criteria in the process of

1
Adam Smith is a Scottish philosopher and a pioneer in political economy studies. He has come up with
numerous philosophical principles that are highly relevant to the field of administrative studies. To be seen:
Athol Fitzgibbons, Adam Smith’s System of Liberty, Wealth and Virtue: The Moral and Political Foundations of
The Wealth of Nations, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995.

1
making laws.2 In this article, we consider nations that best represent the public and individual
interest, in an equitable manner, to be the best.
Smith did not agree with Christian groups that motivated virtue based on religion.
Instead, he believed, just as Hume3 did, that people had a natural need for virtue that gets
expressed through sentiments and feelings. He identified with the Hobbesian theory that
humans behave just as wild animals do, by considering themselves as the priority, and relying
on instincts. Unlike Hobbes4, who believed that due to the beastliness of humans, only
authoritarian nations can support themselves over time - by allowing leaders to offer gifts to
themselves - and unlike Hume who thought that the beastliness of humanity motivated the
use of commerce that is only loosely restricted by small government as the means of
organization for societies, Smith supported the idea that, based on instinct, humans tend to
respect the rules of justice, for fear that they might get punished. He argued that society
respects the laws only because there are punishments for not doing so.5
There are four political representation models that Andrew Heywood 6 explained. The
first one is the Tutorial model, which entails the idea that the political official is supposed to
do what is good for the society, regardless of anything. The second one is the Delegation
model, which puts the political official in the situation of doing exactly what his voters expect
him to do, while the third one is the Representative Mandate model, which entails the idea
that political figures are supposed to only do what they have promised that they will do
during the electoral campaign. Finally, the last one is the Similarity model, which proposes
the idea of an electoral body that resembles the voting population, which means that the
political representatives are supposed to have different ideas and backgrounds, but which are
typical of the general population.7 It is easier for people, and political analysts, journalists,
and scholars, in particular, to assess how well an elected candidate has done his job as a
political official, if he or she has been consistent in pursuing one particular perspective on
political representation.

2
Athol Fitzgibbons, op. cit., pp. 97-98.
3
David Hume is a Scottish philosopher who is widely known for his system of philosophical empiricism. To be
seen: Athol Fitzgibbons, Adam Smith’s System of Liberty, Wealth and Virtue: The Moral and Political
Foundations of The Wealth of Nations, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995.
4
Thomas Hobbes is an English philosopher and one of the founders of modern political philosophy. To be seen:
Athol Fitzgibbons, Adam Smith’s System of Liberty, Wealth and Virtue: The Moral and Political Foundations of
The Wealth of Nations, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995.
5
Ibid., pp. 100-101.
6
Andrew Heywood is a British author of numerous famous political science textbooks. To be seen: Andrew
Heywood, Politics, Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1997.
7
Mihaela Ivănescu, Sisteme și Comportamente Electorale, Ovidius University of Constanța, Constanța, p. 6
apud Andrew Heywood, Politics, Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1997, pp. 130-136.

2
 Political leadership is also categorized based on ideology. Broadly speaking, there are
two types of political ideologies - the right and the left. The right is mainly concerned with
maintaining tradition, the established authority and the pursual of the national interest, while
the left is focused on equality among the population, human rights and reform. 8 Today, it is
very hard to distinguish political parties based on whether they are on the right or on the left,
on the political spectrum. Concepts that are typical to one side of the spectrum are being used
by parties from the other side and vice versa.
Throughout history, the process of choosing who should represent the population in
politics has been subjected to discriminatory measures which were meant to tailor the voting
process based on the interests or views of different groups. There are multiple types of such
discrimination, namely exclusion based on moral concerns, exclusion based on supposed
inability to vote (in the case of people with mental problems, but also in the case of poor
people), exclusion based on race, exclusion based on one’s profession, exclusion based on
whether a person is a woman or a man, exclusion based on age, and exclusion based on one’s
national origins.9 In democratic countries, the extended use of voting has the purpose of
putting the people who best fit the desires of the population in terms of leadership, in charge,
while in authoritarian states, voting only has the purpose of ensuring the fact that no action
against the current power structure is going to be taken. 10 According to Richard Katz11, there
are at least four perspectives for the analysis of the role of voting in democratic societies. The
first one stresses the idea that the population has the power and its will is the one which
should guide the politics of the country. The second one consists in the idea that there are
some important political positions within the country, that have to be filled, and it refers to
the process of making sure that the society has who to lead it. The third one analyzes voting
from the perspective of the population, and entails the idea that people should be able to
express their opinions regarding politics. The last one of Richard Katz’s perspectives on
voting emphasizes the importance, for the political elites, of obtaining information about
what works and what does not work in the political arena. The mentioned elites find out what
the opinion of the population is regarding a wide array of topics and who are the politicians
that the population supports.12

8
Rod Hague, Martin Harrop, Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction. Palgrave Macmillan,
London, 2010, p. 20.
9
Mihaela Ivănescu, op. cit., pp. 8-9.
10
Ibid., p. 10.
11
Richard Katz is a famous American author of books on comparative politics. To be seen: Richard Katz,
Democracy and Elections, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997.
12
Mihaela Ivănescu, op. cit., pp. 11-12.

3
 Although voting makes the population have the power in terms of who is elected at
the country level, the modern world is characterized by the presence of global forces as well.
Neoliberalism has enabled companies, and especially financial institutions, to gain
international power that many times supports itself through political action. The will of the
population can be manipulated based on the wants of wealthy groups that organize
themselves with the purpose of representing the interests of corporations. This is why, in
today’s world, we notice the presence of protesters at very many international gatherings of
important political and business figures. These protesters try to prevent globalization and
neoliberalism from taking away their power as voting citizens.13
Even though global forces are, many times, very powerful, nationalism, on most
occasions, has been able to defeat them, and lead to the formation of national identities which
remain stronger than external influences over time. Nationalism arises from political
movements such as those for the replacement of governments or for generating significant
change within the society. Reorganizations after wars and revolutions have played
particularly important roles in the formation of national identities. So did initiatives for the
increasing of the power of the state, as these measures, in many instances, have gone hand in
hand with offering civil rights. This means that the processes for the formation of a strong
government have, many times, been accompanied by the strengthening of a national
sentiment of belonging.14 The implementation of communication technology and state
projects also contributes to the growth of nationalism as people start to identify with the
country in which they live, by using them. The Prussian government has enacted the first
welfare programmes in the world, in the 1840s, with the aim of increasing the support of its
citizens for their own country and it has succeeded.15
On the other hand, globalization has led to the formation of interest groups that fight
for an internationalization of the economic and political spheres of society, worldwide.
Interest groups form when there is a common purpose - such as supporting the needs of
corporations - as well as a problem that has to be solved - such as the differences in the laws
of different countries, which make it harder for corporations to operate internationally. It is
usually easier for entities that handle money, such as financial institutions to fund interest
13
Heather Gautney, Protest and Organization in the Alternative Globalization Era: NGOs, Social Movements,
and Political Parties, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2010, pp. 2-6.
14
Sinisa Malesevic, Nation-States and Nationalisms, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2013, pp. 58-60, apud Charles
Tilly, Coercion, Capital and European States, Blackwell, Oxford, 1992 and Michael Mann, The Sources of
Social Power I: A History of Power from the Beginning to AD 1760, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
1986.
15
Ibid., pp. 60-61 apud Hermann Beck, The Origins of the Authoritarian Welfare State in Prussia, University of
Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1995.

4
groups that can properly represent them in the political arena. Because of their source of
funding, it is also easier for new interest groups which represent banks or companies to
support themselves, financially, over time, although, as it happens with all interest groups
that have been recently established, they have to endure debates over their purpose and over
whether or not there are other political groups that already do what they intend to do. 16
Interest groups tend to form based on an event that triggered the establishment of an
organization that wants to make its collective opinion heard regarding that particular event.
They can adapt, merge with other groups, or split from a parent organization, in order to
survive, but what is clear is that well-funded political groups are more likely to stand the test
of time, than other groups.17 This creates a bias in the political arena towards political
organizations which are able to secure large amounts of money, in cases where voting is the
means of determining political representation.
Money does influence political representation and participation. There is currently a
big gap between the incomes of wealthy United States residents and the rest of the US
population. This gap does get felt in the politics of the country as well, with decreased
political representation and participation for people with lower incomes, as the norm.
However, people do not feel they are not represented in politics, and they do not see the point
of getting more involved in politics, because they tend to compare their situations with those
of people who have similar attributes to them, and not with those of elites. 18 There are
institutions in the United States that directly tackle problems of unfair political
representation, as well as problems related to the inability of people to properly assess their
economic and political situation. Programs that bring people from diverse sets of income
levels, together, as well as groups which strive for equality in income and political
participation have made major progress, at least in the United States, in the last several
years.19
Every country has its own particularities in terms of political regime. In this study, we
will identify the country that has the best political organization system in the world by
presenting the characteristics of the political regimes from certain selected countries, which
represent models of political organization, and by trying to determine which one of them has
the political system which is most likely to lead to the best results in terms of satisfaction
16
Darren Halpin, The Organization of Political Interest Groups: Designing Advocacy, Routledge, Milton Park,
2014, pp. 79-80.
17
Ibid., pp. 81-82.
18
Christopher Ellis, Putting Inequality in Context: Class, Public Opinion, and Representation in the United
States, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2017, pp. 11-13.
19
Ibid., pp. 14-17.

5
among the population with how their country is run, while also paying attention to issues of
political representation and potential for participation.

United States of America

The constitution of the United States starts by saying that the population of the
country, through the mentioned document, obtains the benefits of freedom. 20 This makes a
clear distinction between authoritarian countries and the US, a country in which the
constitution is highly praised.
The United States of America is a presidential republic and a liberal democracy. It is
organized in 50 states and a capital territory, and its legislature is divided between a House of
Representatives counting 435 members and a senate numbering 100 members. The president
is elected through an electoral college system, which means that if a candidate wins enough
states, he or she does not need to win the popular vote in order to become the president of the
US. There are two major parties in the United States: the Democratic and the Republican
party, the rest of the political organizations not being able to compete at the national level.
This illustrates the fact that the mentioned parties are flexible enough to encompass numerous
political views, and the fact that the electoral college system favors parties that are able to
win states, consistently, all throughout a country.
After the end of the Cold War, the United States has distanced itself from any other
competitor in the world, in terms of aggregate economics and military force. It has also
become one of the most advanced nations in areas such as research, entertainment and
engineering.
Political power within the United States is divided among local, state and federal
organizations, something which ensures an equitable distribution of the funds of the country
at the three mentioned levels, and a consistent development of the country throughout its
entire territory. The Congress of the United States has the power to reject the intents of the
president, and finding common ground is almost always the key to enacting laws in the US.
The United States of America is a country which relies heavily on elections. On top of
electing their president and vice president, as well as two senators for their state, and the
other regular officials from their city or state, Americans elect numerous people who occupy
jobs that are not necessarily political - such as the town sheriff and the local judges. This is
due to an interpretation of the electoral process as a practical matter which has the purpose of

20
United States of America: Constitution, September 17, 1787, available at:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b54d1c.html (accessed: March 11, 2023).

6
ensuring that the people who occupy positions of power do what they are supposed to do, in
the opinion of regular people.
Although the United States is highly focused on voting as a means of electing officials
of different kinds, this does not mean that the people who get elected are always the best.
Interest groups from the US are able to influence the opinion of the voting population though
mass media and other methods.21 Even though the specified groups do adapt based on the
views of the population, they also do everything that they can in order to put the people who
they identify with in charge. These interest groups rely heavily on big donations from
organizations that do not always have the well-being of society in mind. Naturally, they will
try to convince the population that the interests of their donors should be followed, even if
they have to lie or degrade the image of opposing candidates. 22 This is why there is a bias in
policymaking that is directly proportional with income, in the United States, even though
middle incomes tend to be prioritized the most by politicians from the US in terms of whose
interests should be best represented. The incentive to manifest interest towards the desires of
the middle-income group results from the fact that this group is the largest one, when it
comes to voting, as well as due to the fact that middle-income people tend to have powerful
collective voices in issues such as syndicated privileges.23
The anti-leftist populism phenomenon from the United States influences country
politics significantly. Many times, candidates who use the “language of the people”, rather
than usual speech, are preferred. The main idea behind this phenomenon is the following: the
belief that there is a foreign communist force which influences the country and which tries to
take away the liberties of Americans, their way of life and the chances of regular citizens of
the United States to succeed. It usually makes references to periods from the past, when, in
the opinions of the supporters of this current, things were better, these periods being
considered models in terms of how the country should be run.24
The United States of America is a country that houses its native populations on land
that is specifically designated for the use of American Indians, and which can be found within
its formal territory. Native Americans even have their own governments within their
territories, but these political establishments are subjected to the laws of the United States.
The roles of the indigenous governments are to ensure the safety of their communities, to

21
Rod Hague, Martin Harrop, op. cit., pp. 192-193.
22
Darren Halpin, op. cit., pp. 161-163.
23
Christopher Ellis, op. cit., pp. 100-101.
24
Ritchie Savage, Populist Discourse in Venezuela and the United States: American Unexceptionalism and
Political Identity Formation, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2018, pp. 72-74.

7
manage the resources of their respective tribal nations, to organize their communities, to
ensure communication with external entities, and to represent the interests of their
populations.25 American Indians are seen as people who form nations within the United
States, and not simply as a race. The explanation for this is that they are the original
inhabitants of the territory of the US, living separately from regular Americans, in their own
territories. Each tribal nation is a political entity that has its own culture, which can be
illustrated through numerous artifacts and customs, and which is protected by the United
States through deeply ingrained trust relationships between the US government and the
Native American nations.26
When it comes to voting outside of their tribal nation, the American Indian
community is highly divided. There are two perspectives on this topic that compete for
supremacy within the Native American community. While some of the indigenous nations of
the United States see the mentioned type of voting as treason because of the abandonment of
the principle of only being involved in tribal politics, other Native American tribes are
composed of people who are very active in mainstream American politics. The reason for this
divide within the American Indian population is that while some Native Americans believe
that their communities can be better protected from extinction though mainstream political
participation, others believe that getting involved in the activities of regular Americans makes
them become regular Americans who could even completely turn their backs on Native
American tribal organization. American Indians have made significant progress in protecting
their tribal agreements through participation in American politics through interest groups.
The revenues from gambling facilities, establishments that are allowed on some American
Indian territories, have enabled the Native American communities to properly represent
themselves in the politics of the country. 27 However, in the context in which American
Indians are subjected to the laws of the United States, it is a shame that not all Native
Americans are encouraged to participate in mainstream politics, through either voting or
political representation.
The United States is a superpower and because of this, it is able to use its position of
power in order to influence other countries. The US has overthrown Mohammed Mosaddeq,
the former prime minister of Iran, because it feared that the mentioned Asian country could

25
David Wilkins, American Indian Politics and the American Political System, Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers, Inc., Oxford, 2007, p. 125.
26
Ibid., pp. 45-50.
27
Ibid., pp. 193-196.

8
become a communist state because of the specified Arab leader. 28 For reasons of security, but
also because of a desire to maintain its political position in the world, the United States is
able to meddle in the politics of other countries, and sometimes, it does so by using military
force.
The opinions of politicians in the United States tend to follow those of the general
population. For very many years, American politicians have opposed same-sex marriage, just
as the mainstream population did. However, as opinions among regular Americans have
shifted on this issue, so did the leadership of the country, and in May 2012, then Vice
President Joe Biden announced that he supports same-sex marriage, followed by former
president Barack Obama. This happened in the context in which both of the mentioned
politicians previously expressed opposition to same-sex marriage. The fact that American
politicians follow the will of the population of their country is not, however, a bad thing,
because, in a democratic country, the people are supposed to have the power.29
Interest groups do not always get formed in the United States with the purpose of
putting certain people in charge. Sometimes, they get formed with the purpose of generating
profits for certain people or institutions. Some American interest groups have formed with the
purpose of generating legislative change that leads to increased profits for their funding
institutions. Since change in legislature is quite common in the US, people or companies that
manage large amounts of money can use this constant change as a source for investments on
the financial markets. This is common practice for financial institutions and major
businesspeople within the United States and it seems clear that money will continue to be the
source of political change in the US in the foreseeable future.30
Even though the United States is a very advanced society, it has not completely
eradicated the problem of fraudulent political behavior. Both major parties of the United
States - the Democratic and the Republican party - have gotten involved in gerrymandering
throughout time. This has led to the exclusion of other parties from important elections and to
a more divided population, across party lines, across electoral constituencies. 31 Numerous
other criminal offenses have been reported over time within the American political system,
but these still seem to be rare in comparison to those from most countries.

28
Jalil Roshandel, Iran, Israel and the United States: Regime Security vs. Political Legitimacy, Praeger Security
International, Santa Barbara, 2011, pp. 122-123.
29
Ken Kollman, The American Political System, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, 2015, pp. 299-300.
30
Kathryn Lavelle, Money and Banks in the American Political System, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 2013, pp. 249-250.
31
Erik Engstrom, Partisan Gerrymandering and the Construction of American Democracy, University of
Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2013, pp. 191-195.

9
 Venezuela
Venezuela is a federal presidential republic, which is currently under authoritarian
rule, and which used to be a democracy that was not liberal. It is comprised of 23 states and
its legislature is represented by a National Assembly, which is composed of 167 elected
delegates. In Venezuela, the president is elected for six years, but without a term limit, and he
or she leads both the state and the government, while the judges of the country are chosen by
the National Assembly. Although voting is mandatory in Venezuela, based on the law, it is
not uncommon for people not to show up at elections.
There are three major parties in Venezuela. Hugo Chavez’s party is one of them and it
is called the United Socialist Party. This political organization has been formed in 2006
through the merger of multiple parties which were supporting Hugo Chavez. The other two
major parties of Venezuela are the Democratic Action Party and the Social Christian Copei
(Comity for the Independent Electoral Organization) Party. Many times, the left-wing parties
of Venezuela make references to Simon Bolivar’s - the hero of the independence war against
Spain - legacy of protecting individual liberties, of perpetuating the revolutionary spirit, and
of contributing to the creation of a Latin American federation.
In 1958, democracy has been started within the Latin American country. Through the
1958 Puntofijo Pact, the implemented democracy were to be protected by the three main
parties of the time, but the involved parties have been characterized by corruption and other
forms of dishonest behavior in their pursual of the goal of the Puntofijo Pact, something
which eventually led to Hugo Chavez’s 1998 “Bolivarian revolution”. Chavez has promised
that he will bring social justice to Venezuela, an extremely unequal society, and his
leadership has been characterized by high support among the population because of his
almost authoritarian influence on the economy, the military organization of the country, the
media, and the judiciary system. He has funded numerous social programs with the help of
the country’s oil reserves, but his government is known for being corrupt.32
Throughout Hugo Chavez’s mandate, numerous populist influences can be found: his
personalistic style, his grandiose rhetoric and his almost authoritarian attitude. But the
presence of populism within Venezuelan politics, during his presidency, has been obvious
through other aspects as well: a big base of voters, socialist reforms, accusations of the world
neoliberal system of being the source of internal problems - such as poverty and corruption -

32
Rod Hague, Martin Harrop, op. cit., pp. 400-401.

10
and an opposition between the idea of “people” - who need to be helped in order for them to
prosper - and the elites of the country.33
Even though Venezuela is dependent on its oil trade deals with the United States, it is
a country which is characterized by a very high level of criticism towards capitalism.
Venezuela and the United States are both friends - because of their trade deals - and enemies
- because Venezuelan leaders see the United States as the center piece of an imperialistic
neoliberal system, which prevents certain parts of the globe - such as Venezuela - from
developing harmoniously, while making other parts of the planet - such as the US - richer
than they would have normally become.34
Venezuela has become an authoritarian country in 2015, under Nicolas Maduro’s
leadership. The move away from democracy has been fueled by the extreme crisis situation
that the country has been in since 2014. The crisis has been caused by a major drop in oil
prices.35 The Latin American federation tended to be divided on the topic of dictatorship even
before the mentioned situation, supporters of an authoritarian government being influenced
by their high support for Hugo Chavez - a leader with authoritarian tendencies - the view of
Venezuelan leaders on neoliberalism, and the regular poverty from the country - which needs
significant political interventions for it to be eradicated. 36 Elections for the second term of
Nicolas Maduro are known to have been fraudulent and this has led to the situation in which
the country will be under his authoritarian rule for at least some additional years, even though
numerous countries have expressed their intention to help Venezuela transition back to
democracy.37 In order to have particular sanctions that were put on Venezuela because of its
reluctance to return to democracy, lifted, president Maduro has agreed on August 13, 2021 to
offer political rights to all Venezuelans, to enable internationally supervised elections, to
respect the constitution and the rule of law, to not commit politically motivated crimes

33
Ritchie Savage, op. cit., pp. 40-41.
34
Javier Corrales, Carlos Romero, U.S.-Venezuela Relations since the 1990s: Coping with Midlevel Security
Threats, Routledge, Milton Park, 2013, pp. 188-190.
35
Zeeshan Aleem, How Venezuela went from a rich democracy to a dictatorship on the brink of collapse, Vox,
19 September 2017, available at: https://www.vox.com/world/2017/9/19/16189742/venezuela-maduro-dictator-
chavez-collapse (accessed: March 16, 2023).
36
Samuel Roberts, The Fall of Democracy and the Rise of Authoritarianism in Venezuela, University of
California, Riverside: University Honors, April 1, 2020, available at:
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5mj6j3t8#main (accessed: March 16, 2023).
37
Ana Herrero, Megan Specia, Venezuela Is in Crisis. So How Did Maduro Secure a Second Term?, The New
York Times, January 10, 2019, available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/world/americas/venezuela-
maduro-inauguration.html (accessed: March 16, 2023).

11
against his opponents, to offer reparations for the victims of violence, and to guarantee that
what has been agreed on, at the mentioned date, will be put in practice.38

People’s Republic of China

China is a communist, authoritarian, single-party country. Its legislature, which is
represented by the National Congress of the People is formed based on the decisions of
provincial congresses and the armed forces of the nation. The executive body of the state is
represented by the State Council, and it is led by a premier, the president only having
ceremonial attributes. The legal system of the country is considered to be extremely corrupt
and elections are only held for the purpose of monitoring the population when it comes to
supporting the current government.39 Unlike the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of
China has been able to rid itself of the strict communist principles and become a globalist
country, without loosening control over the power mechanisms of the country, because
throughout its entire history, China has been an undemocratic country. The main party of
China, the Chinese Communist party is highly involved in processes of ensuring the
maintenance of its monopolistic power within the country. Being a member of the party
entails permanent obligations, but it also offers privileges that enable people to accumulate
wealth and power. Mass media is highly controlled by the government and informal local
power structures of the communist party decide who should become rich. Local officials are
able to offer promising business opportunities to enterprises based on party interests and
Chinese businesspeople remain involved in the communist party in order to continue to
obtain such opportunities. The country does not have a firm stance on whether it is a socialist
or a capitalist society, but the communist party remains strong because of the reluctance of its
members to join other parties, regardless of reason.40
The centralized development of the People’s Republic of China is justified by the fact
that different regions of the country possess different levels of exploitable resources, and
even food production is not easy to conduct throughout the entire territory of the country.
China is able to maintain a balanced lifestyle for all its citizens by spreading its resources
evenly among the regions of the country, and such a process requires a central point of

38
Claudia Zilla, On Words and Votes in Venezuela: The Talks Between the Conflict Parties and the Elections in
November, SWP Comment, No. 54, October 21, 2021, available at:
https://www.swp-berlin.org/10.18449/2021C54/ (accessed: March 16, 2023).
39
Rod Hague, Martin Harrop, op. cit., p. 110.
40
Ibid., p. 111.

12
operations.41 China is proud of its highly centralized economic model because it enables the
government to develop industries and to intervene in the economy for the development of the
country, very quickly. It also decreases the chances of the communist government to lose
control of the country because it gives political officials the ability to monitor what is going
on throughout the entire nation.42 Another advantage of the centralized nature of Chinese
politics is represented by the fact that the People’s Republic of China is able to cope with
major crises very well by relying on large-scale interventions and highly efficient
implementation processes that are directed from the capital, Beijing.43
China motivates its authoritarian regime through the fact that without such a political
organization, it would have been vulnerable to colonial aggression throughout history.
However, China sees the maximization of the production of the entire country as a priority,
without focusing on the interests of individual citizens as well. 44 The People’s Republic of
China considers its citizens collectively and tries to turn their desires into reality, while also
ensuring the fact that they are the ones who run the country. 45 An additional explanation for
authoritarian rule in China is represented by the prevention of discrimination based on social
differences, something which tends to appear when groups are allowed to form and compete
with each other for power.46
Even though political decisions in China are taken by members of the communist
party, the political officials of the country do consult with the population in the decision-
making process.47 Participation to discussions on political topics with representatives of the
state is not restricted to experts, but it is supposed to include members of all sectors of
society, and it is supposed to be organized based on strict rules that ensure the equitable
representation of people from the country.48
The People’s Republic of China is a country that relies on Marxist philosophy.
Marxism entails the idea that change only happens within societies due to class struggle, and
it assumes that eventually all societies will become socialist because the exploited people -

41
Ning Fang, Junhua Zhao, “Introduction: The Political System of Contemporary China”, in China’s Political
System, Ning Fang (ed.), China Social Sciences Press, Beijing, 2020, p. xii.
42
Ibid., p. xxi.
43
Peng Fan, “Party and Government Policies in China’s Politics”, in China’s Political System, Ning Fang (ed.),
China Social Sciences Press, Beijing, 2020, pp. 25-26.
44
Ibid., p. xiii.
45
Ibid., p. xxi.
46
Ibid., p. xxiii.
47
Chengxin Chen, “China’s Consultative Democracy System”, in China’s Political System, Ning Fang (ed.),
China Social Sciences Press, Beijing, 2020, p. 179.
48
Ibid., pp. 184-186.

13
the working class - will always want to better their situation in comparison to the rich. 49 Karl
Marx50 believed that in capitalist societies, workers are alienated from reality and from their
own thought, through their objectification as means of production. He argued that people
should realize that their value is not derived from their work, but from them being humans.
This is why he classifies working people as exploited people, in the context in which their
labor is what matters to the capitalist entrepreneur, and not their true value as individuals. He
thought that many people from capitalist societies are so alienated from their own thinking,
that they even support their own objectification and exploitation, believing that that is the
51
way in which society is supposed to function. He also criticizes capitalist society because
of the fact that machinery can replace labor, which means that capitalism eventually defeats
itself through the total exclusion of humans from the system through which it allocates value
to all things.52 Unlike Marx, who believed that dictatorship is only a transition period that is
necessary for turning non-socialist countries into classless nations, China maintains
authoritarianism as the means through which it ensures social order and a sound economy
which is perpetuated through large-scale government interventions.53
Karl Marx supported the idea of his economics professor, David Ricardo that the
prices of goods should be equal to their production costs. However, unlike his professor, he
believed that profits should not be included in the production cost. He also did not see the
point of money, in the long run, in the context in which he argued that people should be
offered, directly from the government, what they need and desire, within the limits of the
country being able to produce everything that each member of society desires, and within the
limits of the level of contribution of each individual to the good of society. In a Marxist
country, the struggle for existence of humans does not exist, as long as the nation is able to
support such a distribution of resources. Marx believed that countries would be able to enable
such an equitable distribution of goods if they would have a government which would seize
all the means of production and put them to work for the benefit of the entire population,
based on a well-crafted plan. In the society that was envisioned by Marx, people do not work
for money, but out of a desire to contribute to the well-being of society.54

49
Robert Freedman, The Marxist System: Economic, Political, and Social Perspectives, Chatham House
Publishers, Inc., Chatham, 1990, p. 5.
50
Karl Marx is a German philosopher who has influenced the history of politics through his works on
communism. To be seen: Robert Freedman, The Marxist System: Economic, Political, and Social Perspectives,
Chatham House Publishers, Inc., Chatham, 1990.
51
Ibid., pp. 23-24.
52
Ibid., pp. 84-85.
53
Ibid., p. 113.
54
Ibid., pp. 120-121.

14
 Supporters of Marxism argue that capitalist society is inferior to socialist society
because it always leads to economic crises. In the context in which, in capitalist countries, the
level at which the production of goods should be is not determined based on the needs of the
population, but based on the desire of entrepreneurs to generate as much profit as possible,
the investments that businesspeople make in the facilities that are needed in order to create
the resulting overproduction are always going to lead to economic disaster. Periodically, the
accumulation of such investments within particular industries will lead to economic crises,
which should be considered an expected aspect of capitalism.55
China is a nation which highly appreciates the notion of togetherness. The 2008
Beijing Summer Olympics opening ceremony has exposed the idea that Chinese people think
that common action is more important than individualism. In China, people believe that they
should support each other and that they should work together for the goals of the nation. This
perspective contrasts with the neoliberal one, in which people are supposed to focus on what
they, as individuals, are able to produce, in order to ensure their survival, personal
development and enjoyment.
The People’s Republic of China has a complicated stance on democracy. On the one
hand, China is not a true democracy because its current government is able to maintain itself
in power through force. On the other hand, it relies on the idea that the people of the country
should have the power, and on the principle that all the projects of the country should have
the greater good of society as their justifying point. 56 These are not just means of attracting
popular support, but inherent components of China’s political organization, as a populist
authoritarian country. They are also not just elements of democracy that the People’s
Republic of China has embedded within its political framework. They are populist principles
that are central to China’s culture. Even though China is a populist authoritarian country, it
does not use the cult of personality as a means of showing respect towards its leaders. It does,
however, illustrate its support for the populist authoritarian doctrine through the expectation
from the population of manifesting acts of respect towards the collective political
administration, and through a high level of government responsiveness, especially at the local
level.57 While maintaining their status as representatives of the communist party, the political
organization whose legitimacy should not be questioned, local government officials and

55
Ibid., pp. 100-101.
56
Chamsy el-Ojeili, Politics, Social Theory, Utopia and the World-system: Arguments in Political Sociology,
Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2012, pp. 81-82.
57
Wenfang Tang, Populist Authoritarianism: Chinese Political Culture and Regime Sustainability, Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 2016, pp. 152-154.

15
judges from China are asked by the central government to become approachable by the
general population. Judges, for example, are expected to make their cell phone numbers
public, and to hold trials in the open air.58 The populist nature of Chinese politics is made
obvious by the theory of the Mass Line - an integral part of China’s political organization -
which entails taking the political wants of the general population and making them the goals
of the political apparatus.59
The level of involvement of the communist government in the economic processes of
the country is illustrated by its presence within the financial sector. The government
influences the banking system and the national capital markets, while also managing interest
rates so that state-owned enterprises are able to obtain financial advantages over private
firms. The government of China is also known for making massive interferences in the
national financial system during periods of economic distress.60
The high level of precaution of the communist government regarding making sure that
it is not contested by the population is made clear by the obstructive involvement of the
government in the art cultures of the country. While communism has contributed to the
development of art in China through art manifestations that have political references, the
People’s Republic of China is known for censoring art that criticizes the ruling political
entities of the country, even when the mentioned art pieces could have the role of promoting
improvement within the politics of China. Artists in the People’s Republic of China are not
free to express themselves and, many times, they are asked by the government to modify their
work so that it complies with the expectations of the communist party.61

Iran
Iran is a theocracy in which the politics of the country are divided in secular and
Islamic. It has a Supreme Leader, who is a religious figure that was appointed for life by a
panel of 88 clerics. The country also has a secular president who is elected by the people, but
the religious leader is the more important political figure, in the context in which even
presidential candidates must obtain the approval of a religious body before they can proceed
to the phase of the popular vote.62
58
Ibid., p. 104.
59
Ibid., pp. 5-7.
60
Sandra Heep, “The Role of Government in the Banking and Financial Systems”, in China’s Political System,
Sebastian Heilmann (ed.), Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., Oxford, 2017, pp. 212-216.
61
June Dreyer, China’s Political System: Modernization and Tradition, The Macmillan Press, London, 1993,
pp. 327-334.
62
Anne Irfan, The Islamic Republic of Iran at 40: the Revolution that Made It, The London School of
Economics and Political Science, April 5, 2019, available at:

16
 In Iran, the opinions of regular people are used as sources of inspiration for policy-
making. That is why elections are held within the country. However, the consensus in Iran is
that the people should not have the power because, in Islam, people are expected to conform
to the rules of religion regardless of their opinions, or even needs.
Iran is a highly traditional society when it comes to religion. It sticks to the Islamic
principle that says that the person who receives revelation from Allah - the Muslim God -
should seek political power. This is the concept that justifies the role of the Supreme Leader
as both a religious and political figure. In the mentioned country, the judges are expected to
conduct their professional obligations by relying on the laws of Islam, which are supposed to
be explained to them by experts in the Muslim religion. 63 In Iran, people are supposed to hold
the government accountable for the promotion of good and the forbidding of evil. They are
expected to care about the well-being of society, about the protection and encouragement of
religion, and about the prevention of injustice and immorality. The media outlets of the
country are state-owned and highly censored, under the supervision of the theocratic
government.64 The Supreme Leader is able to choose the Chief Justice of the country based
on his own will, rather than merit, something which illustrates the fact that Iranian theocracy
has authoritarian influences.65
The Islamic Republic of Iran, as it is officially called, is run similarly to a military
dictatorship, with the help of the officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The mentioned military organization is supposed to protect the theocratic government from
the attacks of the prodemocracy protesters. However, the IRGC is known for interfering in
the economy as well, and for building its own business empire, on top of influencing other
countries through the export of military arsenal. The government of Iran controls the access
of foreign media personnel within the country, and it prevents them from interviewing
members of the IRGC, sometimes even imprisoning journalists and scholars on charges of
espionage, for doing research that is even less controversial. Many times, officers of the
IRGC are able to obtain high importance roles within the government, some sort of IRGC
service being a prerequisite for entering politics in Iran. These two facts make the high
reliance of the theocratic government on the military for the organization of the country,

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2019/04/the-islamic-republic-of-iran-at-40-the-revolution-that-
made-it/ (accessed: March 19, 2023).
63
Syed Abbas, Muhammad Asim, “What is Theocratic Democracy: a Case Study of Iranian Political System”,
Journal of Siberian Federal University, Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 3, Nr. 8, 2015, p. 392.
64
Ibid., pp. 394-395.
65
Ibid., p. 399.

17
clear.66 IRGC personnel is indoctrinated by the Iranian government into believing that their
work is spiritual, the explanation being that the protection of the theocratic values of the
country is impossible without the existence of an army that can protect the Supreme Leader
and the rest of the governing body. The IRGC also manages several universities, where the
indoctrination of its officers takes place. 67 The government of the country is extremely
precautious in the process of ensuring that it remains in power, with the IRGC intervening
whenever any political group advocates for something such as the separation of religion from
government.68 The IRGC is presented by the government as a religious army of the people,
while it being obedient to the Supreme Leader - and supporting his personality cult - and
while the urbanized population of the country is growing more secular. Because people from
cities are becoming more secular, the recruitment of people for the IRGC and for the
government is increasingly done from rural areas.69
Even though Iran is a theocracy, the country’s leadership is able to prioritize practical
matters over religious ones. The Asian country has supported a Christian state against
Muslim forces and it has offered aid to a group that does not ideologically agree with Iran. 70
Also, any sign of antipathy towards the government is considered an act against Iran, that is
supported by foreign countries, regardless of whether it has to do with religion or not.71
Politics in Iran are far from being equitable. Even though women, minority ethnic
groups and minority religious groups are allowed to vote, their political participation and
representation remains incipient. Men and members of the dominant ethnic and religious
groups are seen as more competent when it comes to politics, even though change is slowly
happening in terms of the country politics becoming fairer. 72 Members of religious minorities
are still not allowed to run for president, regardless of the fact that the position of president is
a secular one.

Portugal

66
Ali Alfoneh, Iran Unveiled: How the Revolutionary Guards is Turning Theocracy into Military Dictatorship,
AEI Press, Washington, 2013, pp. 1-4.
67
Ibid., pp. 150-151.
68
Ibid., p. 158.
69
Ibid., p. 160.
70
Ibid., p. 161.
71
Ibid., p. 56.
72
Fatemeh Sadeghi, “The Green Movement: A Struggle against Islamist Patriarchy?”, in Iran: from Theocracy
to the Green Movement, Negin Nabavi (ed.), Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2012, pp. 123-124.

18
 Portugal is a semi-presidential republic in which the largest parties are: the Socialist
Party and the Social Democratic Party. 73 The main duty of the president - who is primarily a
mediator between governing parties - is to intervene in situations of governmental instability,
when someone has to take political action for the good of the country. 74 He is also the person
who is supposed to choose the prime minister, even though the Parliament has to approve his
choice in order for it to be valid. Power within the country is divided in the Parliament, the
Government, the Courts and the President.
The idea based on which the current Portuguese republic was formed is that of getting
rid of the authoritarianism and corporatism that characterized the previous political regime,
and establish a democracy. In Portugal, most of the political decisions are taken in the
Parliament, which is composed of 230 deputies, who are elected for four years.75
Portugal has used many austerity policies in order to recover from the European
sovereign debt crisis - which has deeply affected the country - during which, the European
state has taken a country reconfiguration loan from Troika (the European Central Bank, the
EU Commission and the International Monetary Fund). In order to deal with the mentioned
austerity policies, people have relied on skills that they have gained in the past, and on friends
and relatives for solidarity actions. People who had the experience of prior times of scarcity
tended to reconnect with their knowledge of reciprocal relations from the past, for the
exchange of money, food, or services.76 Residential objects and building materials and
appliances were repaired by their owners and the people who were willing to help them,
rather than replaced, something which has led to the government demolishing entire poverty-
stricken neighborhoods.77 Austerity, however, does not impact the artistic cultures of the
country. The Portuguese government is very open towards artistic expression, something
which contributes to a feeling of true freedom for the population.78

73
Ingrid van Biezen, Political Parties in New Democracies: Party Organization in Southern and East-Central
Europe, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2003, p. 54.
74
Mihaela-Ramona Bîrlog, Republica Semi-presidentiala - Studiu de Drept Comparat (Doctoral Thesis
Summary), The University of Craiova, Craiova, 2014, p. 18, apud Roxane Garnier, Un Modele Europeen de
Democratie: les Cas Portugais, LGDJ, Paris, 2005, p. 325.
75
Goncalo Costa, The Portuguese Political System, Portugal.com, November 28, 2021, available at:
https://www.portugal.com/history-and-culture/the-portuguese-political-system/ (accessed: March 21, 2023).
76
Ema Pires, “Recuperative Modes of Action: Reciprocity, Dependence and Resistance to Austerity Policies in
Rural Portugal” in Politics of Recuperation: Repair and Recovery in Post-Crisis Portugal, Francisco Martinez
(ed.), Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2020, pp. 37-38.
77
Giacomo Pozzi, “If Buildings could Talk: Makeshift Urbanity on the Outskirts of Lisbon” in Politics of
Recuperation: Repair and Recovery in Post-Crisis Portugal, Francisco Martinez (ed.), Bloomsbury Publishing,
London, 2020, pp. 75-76.
78
Chiara Pussetti, Vitor Barros, “Geographies of Public Art and Urban Regeneration in Lisbon” in Politics of
Recuperation: Repair and Recovery in Post-Crisis Portugal, Francisco Martinez (ed.), Bloomsbury Publishing,
London, 2020, pp. 101-103.

19
 Portugal did not absolutely have to take the loan from Troika, as its economy was in
better shape than those of the European countries who were worst affected by the crisis, but
investor fears and international pressure from other European Union members, along with the
tendency to do what others who are in similar positions were doing, have led to Portugal
accepting the deal. There are, still, certain features of Portugal’s economy which make it
more prone to economic problems than other countries: high reliance on small-scale
manufacturing, which is connected to its large agricultural base; the inability to keep the pace
with its competitors in the high-tech industries field; and the normalization of budget deficits
as part of how the government functions.79
The new urban lease government program tends to create income and race segregation
among the population of the country. The justification of the program is represented by the
need for gentrification in the cities of Portugal, as a result of the effects of the austerity
measures. This program is just one of many government initiatives from Portugal, which are
meant to make the country more neoliberal. Portugal is one of the nations that tries to make
its economic system as accessible to entrepreneurial initiatives as possible.80
Portugal is a country in which many economic crises occur, largely because the state
apparatus is not able to take responsibility for what is going on in the economy. Political
parties tend to blame each other for the economic weaknesses of the country. Portugal is also
a country in which political power is seen as something which is not accessible to the masses,
as only the few rich people of the country possess the means to gain it. Neoliberalism is seen
as the fair way to earn one’s living, and the population sees Portugal as a backward country
that was not able to fully take advantage of it up to this point. 81 Popular belief is that nations
have to develop comparative advantage to their peer countries in order to fully take advantage
of neoliberalism, but that this can only be done if the population reaches high standards of
skill and comparatively high levels of productivity, in multiple high-tech domains.82
Portugal is a country in which the unemployment rate is usually low, regardless of the
fact that the country is prone to economic problems, due to the fact that the mentioned nation
has very strict job security laws. The government of Portugal is known for being highly

79
Kate Nicholls, Mediating Policy: Greece, Ireland, and Portugal before the Eurozone Crisis, Routledge,
Milton Park, 2015, pp. 2-8.
80
Luis Mendes, Andre Carmo, “The Place of Recuperation: Limits and Challenges of Urban Recovery in Post-
austerity Portugal” in Politics of Recuperation: Repair and Recovery in Post-Crisis Portugal, Francisco
Martinez (ed.), Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2020, pp. 139-141.
81
Tomas Criado, “Conclusion: Repair as Repopulating the Devastated Desert of Our Political and Social
Imaginations” in Politics of Recuperation: Repair and Recovery in Post-Crisis Portugal, Francisco Martinez
(ed.), Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2020, pp. 207-211.
82
Kate Nicholls, op. cit., pp. 20-21.

20
interventionist in nature when it comes to the rights of its citizens. The country is, however,
able to compete on the international markets for goods, by relying on a low wage economy.
Overall, this does not seem to be a very good tactic in the context in which its main export
markets are rich societies that are looking for high quality, innovative products, rather than
low-cost items.83 Something that illustrates the interventionist nature of the Portuguese
government, when the rights of its citizens are concerned, is the fact that the migrant
integration policy of the country is way more focused on social cohesion than those of other
countries, such as Greece and Ireland.
The Portuguese government tends to consult more with elite interest groups from
within the country, rather than with non-elite ones. Elites are perceived by the population as
being “enlightened” individuals who possess comparative advantage over the masses.84
Portugal’s current constitution guarantees a vast array of social rights and the country
is the Southern European nation that has gotten the closest to universal health and welfare
coverage. These aspects of Portuguese society strengthen the point that the Portuguese
government is interventionist in nature when dealing with the privileges of its people. 85
Portugal is a country that has particularly high rates of female labour force
participation, and it is also a country that makes efforts in order to make the voices of women
heard in politics. This contrasts with the unfair treatment of racial minorities and of people
who do not belong to elite groups, both within and outside of politics.86

Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, the only limitation to the power of the king
being the fact that he has to comply with the religious expectations of the country. There are
no political parties within Saudi Arabia, and national elections are not held within the Asian
country. The king does not consult with the general population regarding politics and he has
the legislative, executive and judicial powers, on top of being able to enact royal decrees, and
being the prime minister of the nation. The government positions are dominated by relatives
of the king, politics and the royal family being almost inseparable within Saudi Arabia.87

83
Ibid., pp. 29-31.
84
Ibid., pp. 183-184.
85
Ibid., p. 186.
86
Ibid., pp. 188-194.
87
The Monarchies of the Middle East - Saudi Arabia, OER Services, available at:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-monarchies-of-the-middle-east/
(accessed: March 22, 2023).

21
 There is no formal succession procedure in Saudi Arabia, but usually, the eldest and
most able of the sons of the king is supposed to replace his father in the role of ruler of the
country once the father dies. Sometimes, the king appoints his favorite son while he is still
alive, for the position of future king, but other times the royal family has to decide who
should take the king’s place.88
The groups that the royal family, as the representative of the government, interacts
with the most are the religious leaders, the tribal leaders, the commercially powerful families,
and the technocrats. Saudi Arabia does not respect the Islamic expectation of the religious
leaders being equal in importance to the political ones, since the religious leaders of the
country are subordinate to the members of the royal family who hold political positions. The
spiritual leaders from Saudi Arabia are trained by the government in ways that ensure their
loyalty to the royal family.89 In modern Saudi Arabia, religious scholars tend to be similar to
government employees who ensure that the religious population does not get out of hand
when it comes to respecting the political decisions of the royal family. The hierarchical
superiority of the political class in comparison to the positions of the spiritual leaders is most
visible when foreign policy issues are being discussed. There has never been a cancelation of
a foreign policy decision based on the opinion of the religious leaders, even though the Saudi
Arabian government is known for not always being on the side of Islam in international
conflicts.90
A big proportion of the country’s population claims tribal affiliation, a fact which
makes tribal leaders important discussion - with the purpose of getting a feel of the opinions
of the general population regarding the government - partners for the royal family. In order to
maintain good relationships with the tribes, the royal family tends to set up marriages
between Saudi princes and tribal women, something which is to the liking of the tribal leaders
because it establishes the connection between the tribes and government officials.
Consultation on political matters with tribal leaders is usually reserved for local government,
however.91
Wealthy families that are close to the royal family tend to benefit from business
opportunities that arise from the projects of the country ruler. The royal family is also known
to have offered opportunities of gaining wealth to families from parts of the country in which

88
Stig Stenslie, Regime Stability in Saudi Arabia: the Challenge of Succession, Routledge, Milton Park, 2012,
pp. 104-105.
89
Ibid., pp. 42-43.
90
Ibid., pp. 48-49.
91
Ibid., pp. 50-54.

22
there were fewer rich families, in an attempt to balance the commercial power situation
within the country.92 The members of the royal family who enter the private sector as
entrepreneurs are known to use their positions of power in order to obtain business
advantages, something which makes the business environment in Saudi Arabia less reliable. 93
The Saudi government consults with the business elite in institutionalized ways, though the
Saudi Council of Commercial and Industrial Chambers, the Council of Ministers, the
Consultative Council and the Supreme Economic Council. However, the royal family has
maintained a position of reluctance towards turning the business elite into a political elite, in
the context in which it wants to perpetuate a relationship of master and servant between
royals and non-royals.94
A big proportion of the bureaucratic mechanism of Saudi Arabia is represented by
technocrats. Out of these, the ones who hold the most political power are the favorite advisors
of the various leaders of the government. Technocrats are known to form the majority of the
members of the Consultative Council, the formal advisory body of Saudi politicians.95
All major political decisions within the country, including the appointment of
government ministers, are taken by the king. Meritocracy, loyalty to the king, how respected
one’s tribe is, and whether or not one belongs to the royal family, are the main criteria for
obtaining the position of leader of a government department in Saudi Arabia. Even though
almost all top positions in government go to members of the royal family, technocrats are
becoming more and more involved in the politics of the country due to their aptitudes and
experience.96
The political representation of women and members of low-ranking tribes within
Saudi Arabia is disappointing. Even when compared with women from other Muslim
countries, Saudi females suffer from lack of political expression. 97 Members of low-ranking
tribes are prevented from obtaining government roles on the criterion of class, something
which creates systemic discrimination within the Saudi state.

92
Ibid., p. 56.
93
Ibid., p. 59.
94
Ibid., pp. 61-62.
95
Ibid., p. 64.
96
Ibid., p. 67.
97
Madawi Al-Rasheed, A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics, and Religion in Saudi Arabia, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 2013, pp. 280-282.

23
 Intellectualism in Saudi Arabia has to suffer from the fact that the government
interferes in scholarly processes. Intellectuals are being scrutinized in their work, and the
freedom of expression is being repressed.98

Germany
Germany is a liberal democracy and a federal, parliamentary republic. The country is
led by a chancellor that has a cabinet made up of between 16 and 22 ministers. On the
legislative side, there is a lower house that has 622 members, which are elected based on a
mixed proportional system, and an upper house that represents the 16 federal states of the
country, with its members being nominated by the federal states, and which cannot be
dissolved. The chancellor can only be replaced by the lower house if the latter is able to
demonstrate that it can form a majority for a new chancellor.99
Germany’s constitution is highly influenced by the democratic principles of the
sovereignty of the people and of the fragmentation of government power. The country is
highly democratic as a result of the transition from the authoritarianism of Nazi Germany to a
democratic regime that was imposed by the countries which have won the Second World
War. Each of the federal states that compose the country has its own executive, legislature
and judiciary structures, and the legislative functions are performed by unicameral local
parliaments. The federal parliament tends to only be concerned with national political topics,
such as the problem of citizenship, international relations and defence, but through the upper
house, the federal states influence national decisions as well.
One of the influences of the countries which have won the Second World War on the
constitution of Germany is represented by the fact that the German constitution formally
regulates the defence abilities of the nation, with the German army being forbidden from
taking part in missions that take place outside of the territory of Germany. This restriction
has, however, been canceled by the German constitutional court in the cases of humanitarian
and peacekeeping missions.
Because it is elected by the population, the lower house represents the country as a
whole, in politics, while the upper house represents the federal organization of the country.
When a law is being proposed, the lower house is the first to analyze it, after which it passes
it to the upper house, but the modifications that the upper house makes are subjected to the
approval of the lower house. If the upper house uses its veto, this can be overridden by a
98
Idem, Muted Modernists: The Struggle Over Divine Politics in Saudi Arabia, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 2015, p. 141.
99
Rod Hague, Martin Harrop, op. cit., p. 126.

24
majority vote of the other house. The choosing and the dismissal of government members are
things that the lower house manages as well, on top of choosing the president, whose primary
duty is the representation of the federal government of Germany in international discussions.
The chancellor is the supreme authority in the government, being able to change the
composition of his or her cabinet. However, he or she is also the person who has to take
responsibility for how well the country is doing.
The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany has forbidden the existence of the neo-
Nazi and the communist parties. Out of the remaining ones, the most popular are the
following: the Social-Democratic Party, and the Christian-Democratic Union / Christian
Social Union. Other big parties include: the Free Democratic Party, and the Greens. The
Social-Democratic Party is the oldest party, and it is a left-wing organization that does not
have communist influences, and which promotes political reform, pluralist politics, the rule
of law, solidarity and social equality. The Christian-Democratic Union / Christian Social
Union is a conservative party which is active under the name, Christian Social Union, in the
German federal state of Bavaria, and under the Christian-Democratic Union name, in the rest
of Germany, and which promotes stronger punishments for crimes, and neoliberalism.100
Germany is a country in which ethnicity does not play a major role when it comes to
determining chances of political participation. Also, German politicians are cautious when it
comes to talking about controversial topics that are connected to minority ethnicities. 101
Gender is also not something which determines political participation, as parties from
Germany tend to only seek to win elections, regardless of who is running for office.102
Environmentalism tends to be a highly supported movement in Germany, with very
many organizations fighting for a more ecology-friendly country. Germany has the greenest
air pollution control regulations, the greenest licensing procedure for large polluters, and the
most advanced environmental initiative implementation system in Europe.103
A movement that is gaining momentum in Germany is that of the New Right.
Supporters of this current do not believe that traditional thinking is relevant in the modern
period, in which people should focus on technology, and that the present state of Germany

100
Alexandru Radu, Sisteme Politice Contemporane: Forme de Guvernare în 29 de State, C.H. Beck, Munchen,
2011, pp. 101-105.
101
Eva Ostergaard-Nielsen, Transnational Politics: Turks and Kurds in Germany, Routledge, Milton Park,
2003, p. 86.
102
Sarah Wiliarty, The CDU and the Politics of Gender in Germany: Bringing Women to the Party, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 2010, pp. 38-39.
103
Miranda Schreurs, Environmental Politics in Japan, Germany and the United States, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 2004, pp. 80-83.

25
should be criticized as it is inferior to how the country used to be. 104 The New Right is a neo-
conservative movement that rejects democracy completely, arguing for the rejection of
pluralism, parliamentarianism, equality, and multiculturalism. The mentioned current places
the collective above the individual, and supports the ideas of a strong leader and a strong
state, instead of political institutions that are based on negotiation and compromise. It is
associated with objection to the principles of freedom, equality, and fraternity, of the French
Revolution, and with the creation of a community of the people, in which races are not equal,
and in which an elite group holds the political power.105

Conclusion
After analyzing the characteristics of each of the presented model political regimes, as
well as those of many other political systems, we have arrived to the conclusion that the
United States of America has the best political organization system in the world. The
mentioned country properly represents, both the will of the general population - through fair
elections - and all its constituent groups, through a well-crafted political representation
system.

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Roger Woods, Germany’s New Right as Culture and Politics, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007, pp. 131-
133.
105
Ibid., pp. 7-8.

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